Join the Information Literacy Group and the Multimedia, Information and Technology Group for a day long conference of seminar talks and activities from digital literacy experts from across several different areas of the library and information sector.

Are you currently involved in developing, supporting and delivering digital literacy skills in your library? Are you engaged in developing information literacy frameworks which include digital literacy (and vice-versa)? Do you want to find out more about what others are doing in this area and to what level? Then this conference is for you. Our speakers will enlighten you as to how their services are involved in and support the digital literacy agendas in their respective institutions and sectors.

In a #TBT moment I realised it’s been a month since I volunteered to go to Digifest 2016, so in the style of reflective practice I thought I’d revisit my notes and do a retrospective write up about the day. Digifest is a 2 day technology in teaching and learning showcase run by JISC held…

Colleges need to engage staff, learners and employers ina constructive dialogue to define expectations of technologyuse. We recommend using a range of methods to involvethem and encourage a variety of voices to be heard. Inparticular, facilitate closer working with employers – theycan help determine expenditure, use of technology andassessment. The aim is to ensure that learners’ technologyuse is going to prepare them for employment andenhance their lifelong employability.

"Well, the point to key challenges is obviously positive (participation, engagement) but the report is in the 'hype' of current general discourses: engage learners (all? how?) in innovative ways (what do you mean by 'innovation'? technology means innovation?)" A good start... to discuss!

The National Digital Skills Framework which we are building is not intended to be an overly formal document with huge levels of complexity, but rather a living document that adapts and evolves to suit all of our needs and which seeks to keep as up to date as possible with technologies and the related human skills. It is intended to be community-owned, building on the excellent work of others in the whole area of digital literacies, skills & training, and professional development.

This course is for students at a transition stage between college and university/employment. It focuses on: digital identity, behaviour and practice and can be used as part of the UK 16- 19 study programme. Students can assess their own digital literacy throughout the course and use this self-awareness to set targets to improve their skills. The course puts a strong emphasis on employability and includes contributions from local employers about the digital literacy skills they look for in job applicants.

Public library colleagues are invited to sign up for a free event focused on digital inclusion and developing digital literacies. The event will take place in both London and Leeds, and is a collaboration between the CILIP Information Literacy Group and the Tinder Foundation.

Colleagues working in public libraries will be brought together with a range of IL practitioners in Higher Education (HE) and Further Education (FE) to share experience and knowledge around teaching digital literacies. The event will provide a fun and relaxed opportunity to meet others and share ideas and advice with like-minded colleagues.

Last week I had the pleasure of co-presenting a seminar organised by Emma Thompson at the University of Liverpool with my colleague, Esther Barrett, on what does it mean to be digitally capable? The event was an excellent opportunity to showcase Jisc’s digital capability framework, which comprises of the following six key elements...

Anthony Beal's insight:

Blog post by Scott Hibberson - 19 October 2015 - @ScottHibberson

Great to read about the excellent work Jisc subject specialists are doing in this area.

We recently launched a call to find 50 of the most influential HE professionals on social media. We've been hearing from all kinds of academics and lecturers about the ways in which they use social media to generate change or improve things in their institutions - but what do the students think? We took the opportunity to speak to some students taking part in Jisc's Summer of Student Innovation to find out.

Anthony Beal's insight:

Interesting that there seems to be more use, by some students, of Facebook rather than Twitter for studying. One student talks about setting up revision groups on Facebook and crowdsourcing answers to past exam papers.

Lectures are praised for making the effort to go on social media courses. One student commented how useful it is when her lecturer uses Twitter hash tags to pass on information regarding courses and modules. This includes links to journals and academic papers.

Interesting that there seems to be more use, by some students, of Facebook rather than Twitter for studying. One student talks about setting up revision groups on Facebook and crowdsourcing answers to past exam papers.

Lectures are praised for making the effort to go on social media courses. One student commented how useful it is when her lecturer uses Twitter hash tags to pass on information regarding courses and modules. This includes links to journals and academic papers.

Who I am in my personal life informs who am in my professional life, and that will be true for most people. This is often expressed in my work life by hearing colleagues tell me about what their kids are doing at school with the curriculum or technology. Personal informs “professional” and vice versa. Now, with social media, we get to choose how we express and how much we express about these facets of our lives. For me, I have chosen not to keep separate accounts, after all I am the same person whether I am running a workshop on digital leadership or a hiding under a bush photographing a rare bird or trying to identify a warbler.

Anthony Beal's insight:

Take a look at the Visitor and Resident Map created by @Lawrie . Helps me to get my head round this concept.

There is no question that UK higher education (HE) is changing. Conversations and essays about the importance of the student experience abound, but we can see it simply by looking at the different channels and evolving nature of student-staff interactions.

Anthony Beal's insight:

Comment on this blog, by Simon Thomson, recognising the high quality social connectivity many UK libraries have with their customers:

"...I think other university service areas could learn a lot from their libraries. They know how to connect with people & they know they must be in the same spaces as their customer base in order to do that."

The Jisc Digital Student project has investigated the expectations and experiences of technology provision held by students coming into higher education, and also funded a small review of current practice within secondary schools. The further education and skills project ran between 1 June 2014 and 30 April 2015 in order to extend the findings of the Digital Student project to further education and skills.

This site has 8 main sections. Each page is designed to make you reflect on your own online experience and knowledge, showcase the views of some of our London Met students and provide practical ideas and advice to help you get more clued up about being a digital student.

Anthony Beal's insight:

Looks like a useful guide for students with sections on digital identity and study skills. Lots of videos of students talking about their experiences.

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